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<br /> <br />Just ill urban dt~'dopwnt if floodpkliru must be carifull)' <br />plan7U'd,. the effids if agricultural and forestry uses must <br />also be analyud and uruimwod before cho.nlW in a flood- <br />plo.in are made. <br /> <br />Cormrcticul Rh'" near Deerfield, ,Hassachusells. <br /> <br /> <br />O~'er the )'ears, the co/U'erswn if wetlmuis to oINr usef has <br />resulted in more tho.ll ho.lf rif all Us. wetlands being lost. <br /> <br />Dredging near Amelia, Loui.liana. <br /> <br />- <br />20 <br /> <br /> <br />Devewpmmt in aflnodplo.in ma)' 1) iru:nl1.Se ruru1f, 2) block r1.lnrff and interrupt gro1.l1ldwalt:r movemenl, <br />and 3) increase pollutiun., It can aifecl living resources and ho.bifa1 in numeroUJ, sometimes unpredicto.bk, <br />wap. <br />Development in coastal marshland f!.f LOUlsia/UJ <br /> <br />. Human activities have already profoundly affected floodplains and the <br />nature of flooding throughout the arid and semi-arid Southwest, where <br />rapid development is expected to continue. Many changes that began <br />450 years ago with the introduction of cattle are still affecting the basic <br />hydrologic cycle and geomorphology of the region. Plant and animal <br />associations that evolved for 10,000 years have been irreversibly altered, <br />and the effects of this are still only vaguely understood and generally <br />unmanaged. <br /> <br />. About 54% of the original 215 million acres of wetlands in the nation <br />have been lost since European settlement. A recent U.S. Fish and <br />\Vildlife Service study estimates that there are about 100 million acres, <br />or about 5% of the land mass, left in the continental United States, <br />and the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment estimates that there are <br />about 200 million acres, or about 60%, in Alaska. Historically, the <br />greatest portion of this loss by far "..as the result of draining wetlands <br /> <br />Original and Remaining Acreages <br />of Wetlands in the Lower 48 States <br /> <br /> <br />Remaining (46%) <br /> <br />Source: Fish and \Vildlife Service, \",-.5. Department of the Interior <br />